Little Division
by YayaSamuko
Summary: This is a spin-off/prequel to Schoolgirl und Panzer that features few of the girl's middle school life and how they started tankery.


**A/N: This is a spin-off/prequel to Schoolgirl und Panzer that features few of the girl's middle school life and how they started tankery.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or the anime they belongs in.**

[-x-x-x-]

"Eri-chan!"

Said blonde stopped walking and watched from over her shoulder to see a petite ginger running in her direction while waving her hand. She soon caught up with her older friend and took a moment to catch back her breath. "Hi, Honoka!"

The shorter girl finally breathed normally again and raised her head to display a big smile on her face. "I've got a very great and fun idea!" She said with enthusiasm before jumping around her friend. "Let us start practicing Sensha-do!"

Eri sighed before smiling and grabbed her friend by her collar. The two of them were both clad in their middle school sailor uniform and were in the courtyard of said school. "Please calm down first and explain from the beginning."

The other students weren't paying attention to the duo as they just walked their way until exiting the school ground. Uranohoshi middle school was located in the town of Uchiura and they had great view of the ocean from them. Most high school and college were built on large ships but it's another story for middle schools.

"Yeah." The ginger nodded. "So, yesterday, I was watching that old video about a tankery match and it was so cool that I want to try doing it!"

The blonde chuckled as she started walking toward the exit, her bag resting on her shoulder. "So, are you really determined this time or is it another childish whimper where you will give up as soon as you find it difficult?"

"That's so mean, Eri-chan!" Honoka made a cute pout as she followed her friend. "I mean you just have to look these matches featuring Kuromorimine or Pravda. Even though my favorite style is the Chi-Ha-Tan's charge!"

Another chuckle escaped the taller girl's lips before she stopped in her track, resulting in the ginger bumping into her back. The former then turned to the later, a serious expression on her face. "Sensha-do is not a game to be taken lightly."

The gingerhead slightly backed away, frightened. "E-Eri-chan… your face is scary…"

"Honoka! Eri-chi!"

Fortunately, a familiar voice called for the two of them, breaking the awkward ambiance and they turned to the source of the voice. Honoka smiled before running in the direction of the three girls who has just exited the school building. "Aye! Nozomi-chan! Eri-chan is being mean with Honoka again."

"Oh my." The other third year student took the younger girl in her arms as she wore a sarcastic expression. "How could you, Eri-chi? I'm so disappointed."

The two remaining girl couldn't help but to feel awkward. The taller ravenette just sighed as her sister had an awkward smile on her face.

Eri finally walked back to where her friends were and grabbed the ginger by the collar, playfully tugging her. "Do not spoil her too much Nozomi. She will become a brat if you are always so chicken-mama with her." She said with a grin and a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Ara? Is Eri-chi mama jealous because I prefer spoiling our daughter over her." Nozomi replied with a smirk as she moved her left arm and took Ruby in a hug as well.

"Pigiii!"

The purple-haired girl hugged both Honoka and Ruby and winked at her blonde friend. Dia, on the other hand, couldn't help but to let go of another sigh before taking her sister in her own arms. "Please do not bully my sister like that!" She attempted to say politely but anger could be heard in her tone.

The two other third-years chuckled. "Sorry sorry!" Eri said before finally smiling normally again. Honoka was still clinging to Nozomi but everyone has regained their calm. "It's just that tankery is more complex than what you think, Honoka."

"Sensha-do?" That took the Kurosawa sister's attention as they leaned in. "Are you really going to start practicing that sport?"

"Actually, the number of middle school practicing it is very low. Our school, like the one in Numazu, doesn't even teach the students about it until high school." The fortuneteller explained.

"But I don't see the big deal." The ginger finally protested after letting go of her friend and made a girly twirl. "We just find tanks, drive them, have fun and that's all! We can have matches to boost our popularity, in addition."

Eri wanted to argue back but few students walked out of the building and she realized they were blocking the way. As the four girls exited the main door though, they stopped in front of the small group of friend. "Hello there!"

"Good morning!" Dia and Eri quickly replied as Ruby hid behind her sister.

The first newcomer had long ginger hair while the one standing beside her was more of the brunette. Honoka recognized these two as Takami Shima and Mito. They were cousins and third year at Uranohoshi. "Hello!"

"Sorry but we overheard you talking about tanks and couldn't help but to feel intrigued." Shima said with a smile.

"W-well… I guess we were."

"Ah! Sorry for being rude." The ginger quickly bowed her head. "We are actually members of the wanna-be automobile club. As you might already know, our school is running out of fund so our club was never legalized. We do, however, have meetings and are always ready to research about any kind of vehicle the students might find."

"So we thought maybe you could help us by finding tanks and the documents about us so we could repair them." Mito continued.

"It will be a win-win!" The taller girl standing beside them made a puppy pause as she concluded. She had white colored hair and eyes shut most of the time. "Wan~"

The four other girls slowly paused as they awkwardly watched as the cheerful girl gave them a happy smile. Shima, noticing it, stood straight and gestured at her two friends. "Sorry. She is Shiitake. She has just transferred her last week and isn't used to the region yet since her family was living somewhere in Hokkaido." She then smiled awkwardly as Shiitake walked over to the last member — a petite girl with past ear raven hair and crimson irises — and started licking her cheeks. "Also, her family is specialist of dogs and she is so used of playing with them than she ended up starting to act as one." She then gestured at the other ravenette.

"Yazawa Kotaro…" The girl replied with a calm voice, her face expressionless as the cheerful whitette walked over to Mito. Kotaro just whipped the saliva off her cheek and just stood there, motionless, her eyes seeming empty and expressionless.

The older Takami girl chuckled nervously. "She doesn't talk that much as is not very social but she is very smart and agile with her hands."

"Oh…" Honoka gave an awkward smile. "They have… how do I say it…? unusual names for girls…"

The energetic girl just waved a smile at her. "Cute, aren't they wan~?"

Nozomi chuckled before turning to the horizon to see that the sun was almost settling. "Thank you for proposing your help in that case. Maybe we could meet together this week-end and start looking around."

"What do you mean?" The petite red-head questioned. "Could it be that there might be abandoned tanks somewhere around this town?" Stars could be seen in her eyes.

The reply came in form of a nod. "The cards are telling me we will find someone interesting in the old abandoned forest behind the mountain beyond the bay.

"Pigiii!" The petite girl shrieked. "You mean the rumored haunted woods?"

The purplenette nodded once again and turned to her blonde friend. "What do you think, Eri-chi?"

Said girl thought an instant and looked at Honoka who was giving her a pleading look. She sighed. "All right! Let us meet up at the shopping district tomorrow."

"Pigii!"

Dia placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You are not forced to follow us, Ruby."

"But…"

"We're out." said Kotarou as she started walking toward the gate.

Mito smiled awkwardly before following the young Yazawa girl. "Well… We will leave the searching to you five and just contact us if you find it so we could start reparations."

Shima gave a polite bow of the head before walking behind her sister and was soon followed by Shiitake, leaving alone the five other girls. There was a moment of silence until the ginger let go of a yawn. "It's starting to get late so let's go home!" She said before dragging Nozomi and Ruby toward the exit, soon followed by Eri and Dia. "Let's race until the intersection!"

[-x-x-x-]

The next day, the five girls met at the promised place. Ruby has decided to follow her older sister despite her fear, being more scared about the fact of staying at home alone. The small group took the Matsuura's boat after talking with the owner and dropped them by the other side of the bay. Kanan, the granddaughter of the boat owner, was a good friend of Dia so the old man was kind enough to help them with the trip.

As soon as they were in the forest though, they saw how difficult the trip was. The wood was very dense and the ground was unstable and muddy. Fortunately, the girls did come equipped with military boots and rain coats since the area was very humid.

"Ghee…" Honoka was leading the group as she was holding a knife as to help her cut the tree branches and so opens a way for her friends. Nozomi was just behind her and giving indication. With the several years they were together, the four others have learned to trust the fortuneteller girl's instinct. "This is a pain…"

"Just a little more effort. We are almost there." The purple-haired girl cheered as they advanced deeper into the jungle-like forest.

Ruby and Dia were walking beside each others, holding hand and Eri was behind. They continued for another hour until Honoka stepped on an unstable platform and started to fall down a small cliff. Fortunately, the blonde was fast enough to catch her before she fell but that caused the fragile ground beneath them to fall. The five girls fell for about three meters until landing on a small clearer. Fortunately, the ground was covered with grasses and mushrooms that helped cushioning their fall.

"Aw…"

"It hurts…"

"Ruby, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah…"

Honoka slowly stood up as she rubbed her bottom that fell first earlier. Beside her, Eri has helped cushioning Ruby's fall while the two last girls fell on a mushroom field. The five of them stood up and paused an instant before turning toward the clearer area. Their rain coat and the clothes underneath were now covered in mud but that won't stop them from advancing.

At the exit of the clearer were few bushes, an abandoned pickup truck, a large pound of water and an abandoned building. "This place is…"

"I heard that a factory assigned to burn the trashes was once built here but it was closed down about two decades ago." Dia inspected the truck. "I never thought to find something like this."

As the five of them continued to search, Honoka dug into the bushes and her face illuminated. "I found something." She took said something as everyone turned to her and dragged what looked like round metallic wheels from the bushes. "These must be the tank's wheels. The tracks mustn't be that far away."

"I found them." Ruby said as the ginger just finished. Said girl was at the entrance of another wood and saw several large metallic rusty chains resting on the ground. She approached and kneeled down. "They are all rusty."

Dia too found something inside the truck's passenger seat. "I think I found the motor and other accessories such as the radiators, battery and turbine."

Eri nodded as she walked near the small lake and examined the growing flowers above it. She kneeled down and examined the brown-colored water. "I think there is something underneath here."

"The turret and barrel are over there!" Nozomi called from inside the abandoned building. Few seconds later, she exited said building and smiled. "So, how are we going to bring these back to the mainland?"

"Let us call for the girls in the automobile club first and as Kanan-san's grandfather if he could help us with these." Dia proposed as she picked her cellphone.

Not long after, the four girls member of the automobile club arrived after they were given the coordination of the area and the fastest way to arrive there. The have also talked with Mr. Matsuura and got his approbation. They were already wearing their combination and were driving a small-size truck. If the girls remembered well, the automobile club has found said vehicle in piece all around Uchiura and has managed to repair it in just few months.

"Sorry for the wait wan!" Shiitake jumped out of the truck and walked over toward the five mud-covered girls. "So, where is it wan?"

"It's in piece." Eri responded.

"Don't mind!" Shima drove the truck toward the building. "Let us pick every part and assemble them at the workshop." She said, ordering the other girls to load the detached piece—namely the wheels, tracks, motor, barrel, turret and detached side armor—into the vehicle. Getting the big body was harder since they need to attach a metallic cable to the truck while the others dove into the small dirty lake and to attach the other extremity of the rope into the tank so that the truck could pull it off.

After two long hours of hard work, every part of the tank was inside the vehicle. The girls could finally sigh. "I'm so tired."

"And I smell bad."

"I want to shower."

"I hope that our effort will pay well."

Mito smiled as she got behind the stirring wheel. "All right everyone! Jump in and let's get out of here."

"Aye!" They followed by jumping on the vehicle so that the brunette could drive them toward the boat that was waiting for them. It was already known around town that the girls of the automobile club were all excellent drivers, especially on rough terrains and Honoka got the visual proof that day.

[-x-x-x-]

One month later, Honoka, Nozomi, Eri, Dia and Ruby were called into the rear garage of Uranohoshi that served as the automobile team's clubroom. As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by a tank that was being driven around the field. It was a medium-sized one, colored in dark green and had a long barrel, rotating turret and large tracks.

The five girls rat to where Shiitake was standing. Said girl, like her three other friends were in their combination, covered with black oil. "We are done wan!"

"Wow! It's advancing!" The red-head had stars in her eyes.

"The tank is a little slow and might have very low firepower while not being able to cross too difficult path but it's still a tank." Mito continued as Kotarou parked the vehicle in front of the garage's door. The usually quiet girl then jumped out of the tank after opening the frontal hatch for the driver.

"But a tank is still a tank!" Honoka replied cheerfully as she and Ruby climbed atop the vehicle.

"It's so cool!" The petite red-head continued.

"Ruby; you shouldn't get in yet. We need to get changed first as to not get our uniforms dirty."

"Yes, Onee-chan!"

Nozomi and Eri bowed at the girls of the automobile club. "Thank you for your hard work!"

"It's nothing! In fact, repairing this helped us a lot. We both got experience by doing so."

"In exchange, just promise us to take good care of it, okay?" Shima continued.

The five girls nodded. "You can count on us."

"Jagdpanzer 38(t) Marder III." Kotarou commented, earning confused look from the five other girls.

"It's the tank's name wan!" The whitette added. "Jagd mean hunter; panzer is from panzerkampfvagen that means German armored tank; 38 is because it was originally built in 1938, in the middle of WWII; t is because it was made in Tchez republic. As for Marder, it's a leveling up as to ameliorate its performance by changing the turret while keeping the chassis."

"It's like the Hetzer of StuG you could say but they kept the rotating turret for the Marder series." Mato continued.

"Oh." Ruby and Dia awed.

"Anyway," Mito chuckled. "How about you get changed now and hop into it?"

"Right!"

And with that, the five girls ran inside the garage and changed into their PE uniform—white T-shirt where their names was written on the chest and short shorts for Honoka, Ruby and Dia while the two other third years got tracksuit pants. The finally climbed atop the Marder after getting changed.

"So, who is going to be the driver?"

"Let us do a lottery!" The ginger proposed and no one protested. She then picked five sticks and wrote letters on each of their extremity. She then held them all together in one hand, showing the extremity where she didn't write anything for everyone to pick. "All right! Let's allow the fate decide for us."

Ruby was the first to pick and examined the letter. "L?"

"It means loader. Their job is to load the shells into the main cannon." Dia explain, though unsure about leaving such hard duty for her sister.

"Pigiii!" The red-head shrieked. "Will Ruby really be able to be the loader?"

"It takes time and training but anyone can become anything." Shima calmly commented. The four automobile girls were also in their PE uniform after tidying the combinations and were now drinking green tea.

"All right…" Dia was the next one to pick. "O?"

"Overwatcher." The blonde explained. "Their job is to give the coordination to shoot for the gunner and keep track on the surroundings. They sometimes serve as a co-pilot." The others nodded and Eri picked one stick. "I guess I will be the driver."

Nozomi chuckled. "To think that the time where Eri-chi will be driving us has finally come… Oh my; so romantic~" She then picked her role as the blonde attempted to look elsewhere as to hide her slowly growing pink face. "What does C stand for?"

"Commander." The raven-haired Kurosawa girl explained. "Their job is to give the orders while helping the overwatcher. They also hold the map and keep track of the actual position."

"Oh."

"So, that leave me as the gunner." Honoka concluded. "Sounds cool!"

Everyone broke into laugher and the girls of the automobile club took place at the side of the field, keeping an eye on the five friends while the later got inside the Jagdpanzer, ready no manhandle it.

And that was how Honoka and friend's adventure toward the world of tankery has begun.

[-x-x-x-]

 **A/N: For these who might be wondering, for their appearance, there is no change for Kotarou's. He just became a she. As for Shiitake, she looks like Chiya from Urara Meiro-cho in both appearance and character.**

 **Also, Eri, Nozomi, Dia, Kanan, Shima, Mito and Kotarou are both third years while Honoka and Shiitake are second years. Ruby is obviously a first year.**


End file.
